ASIA NEWS: Fogle finds his Baring


Mark Fogle spent approximately one year considering opportunities with other firms and launching his own fund management business following his departure as chief investment officer at RREEF, the alternative investment arm of Deutsche Bank.

Appointed last month as managing director and head of real estate at Baring Private Equity Asia, he’ll now be finishing the year flying the flag for a private equity business with $5 billion in assets under management.

Hired for reasons that include his “network of relationships” amassed while at RREEF and, before that, AIG Real Estate, Jean Salata, founder and chief executive officer of Baring Asia, said Fogle would help the firm he founded in 2000 unlock “many interesting investment opportunities in the sector as we go through this next cycle.”

Baring enters the Asia real estate market on a high note, reaching an impressive hard cap of $2.5 billion for its Fund V buyout fund earlier this year. Indeed, investors were so impressed with its offering that the vehicle actually was oversubscribed by almost $1 billion, according to PERE’s sister publication
PEI Asia.

Fogle’s initial task will be to grow the firm’s Hong Kong-based real estate platform, including making investments from the buyout fund. “Baring provides me with a large-scale regional platform to evaluate and invest in key real estate markets as opportunities present themselves,” he said.

While Fogle concentrates on the immediate task in hand, market peers already are predicting a dedicated real estate fund in the future. “I think Mark has the ability to do some deals, but perhaps more interesting is the exposure he’ll gain from Baring’s really good client base,” one Hong Kong-based peer said. “Between now and six to 12 months from now, I imagine he’ll look at investments for the private equity fund while getting to know those investors. After that, he can think about raising a real estate-focused fund.”